Kathmandu, NEPAL – From just feasibility tests four months ago; today we are here: drones will be officially taking over the cleaning of garbage left by hikers in Mt Everest; at least the part of the mountain that belongs to Nepal.

What started out as just proof of concept tests for the deployment of the DJI FlyCart 30 drones to carry out various tasks that include delivering oxygen tanks up to camps along the hiking way and bringing garbage on the way down, has now culminated into a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality and the Airlift Technology Pvt Ltd.

This MoU will see the drones being substantively taking over the waste disposal operations in the mountains of the Khumbu region.

The operations will start this autumn, with the drones transporting garbage from the 6,812-metre tall Ama Dablam, south of Everest.

In spring (between March and May), the drones will be flying to Camp I (5,943 metres) to supply ropes and ladders to prepare routes and bring garbage to the Everest base camp at 5,364 metres.

Traditionally, this was the work of the Sherpa people, who have risked their lives carrying supplies and garbage up and down the treacherous slopes of the mountain, crossing the icefall over 30 times a season to transport supplies such as oxygen bottles, gas canisters, tents, food, and ropes.

Many have died on the job; but now the first commercial work an unmanned aerial vehicle does in Nepal’s high-altitude zone is believed to help reduce the casualties.

“After a successful test in April, we plan to use drones commercially in the Everest region,” said Jagat Bhusal, chief administration officer of the rural municipality that hosts Everest.

Test results had proved that the FlyCart 30 could airlift 234kg per hour between Camp I and Base Camp, a task usually accomplished by at least 14 porters in six hours.

All climbers and guides must navigate the icefall on the route to the world’s tallest peak. The icefall is so notoriously dangerous that even experienced Sherpas hesitate to move when the sun shines. The Khumbu Icefall, a river of ice a kilometre or so long, is usually crossed at night or early morning, with climbers putting headlamps on their helmets.

Normally, the route is crossed early in the morning, when the ice blocks and the hanging glaciers are stable and avalanche risks are low.

During the day, as the sun warms the mountain, the hanging glaciers melt, and ice crumbles, increasing the risk of avalanche.

In April 2014, an avalanche resulting from a falling serac buried sixteen Sherpa guides in the Khumbu Icefall, eventually leading to the cancellation of the season’s expeditions.

Last year, three Sherpa guides mobilised to prepare the routes were buried under the ice masses triggered by an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall. Their bodies are yet to be recovered.

All in all, nearly 50 individuals died on the icefall between 1953 and 2023, according to government records and statistics from the Himalayan Database.

“Using drones will help us avoid the dangers in the Khumbu Icefall,” said Bhusal.

“Yes, there are concerns that the machines may actually cut jobs. But our sole purpose is to reduce potential deaths in the Khumbu Icefall, the danger zone.

“We will train Sherpas, as drone operators cannot handle tasks at the higher camps. In the future, all work will be done by Sherpas.”

In the trial phase, the drone could lift 30 kg from Camp I. However, its performance dropped to 18 kg from Camp II.

“Based on the MoU framework, we will soon sign a commercial agreement with the drone supplier,” said Bhusal. “The municipality will monitor all the activities.”

The effects of climate change have resulted in melting snow and ice, exposing even more garbage and bodies that have been covered for decades on Everest. This waste pollutes the natural environment and poses a severe health risk to everyone who lives in the Everest watershed.

Nearly 100 tonnes of garbage were collected during this spring climbing season from Everest and Lhotse, which share the same base camp.

“Drones can replace helicopters as a relatively low-risk transport vehicle to supplement supplies on the plateau, which will greatly expand the application space of UAVs,” Cai Yong, a senior engineer at East China Normal University, told Xinhua News in April, soon after the pilot tests.